Do you remember your first trip up (or down) Mont Ripley?
There is a hint of snow in the air, offering hope that Mont Ripley will soon be open. This vintage image from winter 1958 features Michigan Tech ski coach Fred Lonsdorf and his daughter Lynn on the slopes. A familiar face on the ski hill in the mid 20th century, Lonsdorf was respected by all who came to learn from him. His best advice: “Get out and practice!”
Did you ever take a ski lesson from Fred? Share your favorite Mont Ripley memories with us in the comments!
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We lived in Laurium and I learned to ski on Mt. Ripley beginning in about 1961, we skied most every weekend. Fred Lonsdorf was the king of Mt. Ripley! One day, my father was filming my friend and I skiing down to the rope tow and we were showing off doing our snow plow turns, paying no attention to anything around us, and we skied right into Fred at the bottom of the hill and knocked him right over! I just remember that he was very gracious. I think it was he that conducted ski school every year, maybe in conjunction with Weber’s downtown Houghton? The ski school culminated in races for the various ages and experience levels. Such great memories!
Fred Lonsdorf was teaching the ski class when I entered Michigan Tech and I signed up quickly for his class. One of his tactics was to have everyone take the run-out on the ski jump that existed on Mount Ripley at that time, and that was quite an exciting adventure for a 17-year-old from flatlands “down state”. I wound up serving two years on the Ripley Ski Patrol.
Never took a lesson from Fred but I was on the ski patrol (69 through 73) while he was Ripley manager, ski team coach, and taught skiing as a PE course. He was a rather stoic guy, but ran things well. I was on patrol one Monday afternoon when it started snowing. Ski patrol had to wait to the end of the day and do a “sweep” to make sure there were no people left on the hill. That meant getting off the hill pretty late and then hitchhiking back to campus. By the time I walked out of the parking lot, there was well over a foot of new snow and very little traffic. Fred came by in his VW beetle (yellow or orange IIRC) and gave me a ride. I don’t know how far out of his way he went, but I might still be standing on the roadside without him. The next day, MTU was closed due to 24 inches of new snow and strong winds.
I was fortunate to get into Fred’s Beginning Skiing class in the winter of 1960. Then, again I enrolled in his Advanced Skiing class in the winter of 1961. It was a pleasure to be coached/taught by an expert. We were all introduced to the wedell style of skiing. He eventually taught us to manage a slalom course on Mont Ripley. I sure spent a lot of time on Ripley in my years at Tech and got to know many of the local skiers.